Israel Bonds Record Sales for 1973: More Than Half a Billion Dollars

Sam Rothberg, general chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, has announced that the sale of Israel Bonds in 1973 produced a record-breaking total of $502,137,550. This figure compared with $271 million in Israel Bond proceeds in 1972 and $217 million in 1967, the year of the Six-Day War. “We are confident that the new consciousness of the scope of Israel’s needs in this period of great decision will be reflected in new levels of community participation in the Israel Bond program in the coming year,” Rothberg said.

Special tribute was paid by Rothberg to the Jews of Canada who, under the leadership of Allan Bronfman, president of the Israel Bond campaign in that country, sold an extraordinary total of $45,226,650 in Israel Bonds in 1973 as against $24,458,000 in 1972. Rothberg announced that more than 500 leaders from various communities in the U.S. and Canada are preparing to leave for Israel at the invitation of Premier Golda Meir to take part in an extraordinary conference on Israel’s massive economic needs in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War.

The Prime Minister’s International Israel Bond Conference, which will meet in Israel from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, will hear reports from top government leaders on the country’s financial situation and hopes for peace. This conference will inaugurate a new one billion dollar Bond issue to be known as the Reconstruction and Development Loan, biggest issue of Bonds ever floated by the State of Israel.